Posted on 02/07/2009 11:20:46 AM PST by RayChuang88
No thanks to Comcast now charging a totally silly US$63 per month for their Extended Basic cable service, I am looking at switching to satellite TV.
My configuration requirement is simple: a two-receiver setup where one receiver will have a built-in DVR, and one receiver will not need it (since it will be in the kitchen). I do not need HDTV support for now. I am down to two different plans: DirecTV's Choice Xtra package and Dish Network's Silver 200 package, using the configuration I mentioned above.
I'd like to find out which is the better deal in terms of pricing with my hardware configuration and customer service, especially after the promotional period pricing ends.
Maybe now would be a good time to go TV-free..
I’ve been quite satisfied with DirecTV... but I’d get HD ready hardware for when you get an HD-TV.
Satellite is great but you can have problems depending where your property is located. In a snowstorm or even a heavy inversion layer ours can go out and in heavy rain. Then there are sometimes sound problems that last for a couple of minutes, usually right when you want to hear something.
what do you find worth watching on tv?
Try a flea mkt., search for model, VIEWSAT vs 2000 ULTRA v2 ($125.00)
and go for, “Fee TV”
Have had DirecTV for about 10 years now, and only had to call customer service once (about 9 years ago). At that time, they were very helpful.
We’re very happy with the service and the product. Occasional loss of signal in heavy thunder and snow storms, but that doesn’t happen too often.
Anyone know anything about “Free to Air” sattelite tv?
I can't get a dish in here because I am in heavy woods.
If and when I can it will be Direct TV because they have the sports packages I want.
A lot of people are getting rid of Dish TV because of poor program selections and lack of service.
Verizon is coming here this summer and will probably go with them.
I hate those 6 months - one year special offers but I will take them when available.
Save $32 a month means that is how they are going to raise their rates after the promotion period.
I have been a DirecTV user for two years. It is pretty much care free maintenance - thank goodness for that. Some of their customer service reps are not very much help if you have a problem. Call back and you usually get someone that knows.
My biggest dissatisfaction is: if you upgrade any equipment as when you switch from a digital TV to an HDTV, they will automatically extend your contract for two years, regardless of how much time you have left on your current contract. So, be aware if you are looking to keep your options open, like switching to FIOS when it becomes available.
Plus:
Clarity
Installed everything my self
Outages are very rare
The price has not gone up much in those 8 years. Normal inflation increases you would expect to see.
MY DVR integrates with it nicely.
Direct TV has ALL my local stations in the package. Note - DISH Network does not carry all and is in a contract battle with those channels they do not. Dish wants more money from them.
On line program guide is so much better than cables scrolling guide.
Negative:
Pay Per View is never in letterbox
Pay per view has the same movies showing on several channels which cuts down on the numbers of movies they could show.
The signal will drop some times if you get a heavy snow or rain.
Even with all those channels, there are many many nights there is nothing on. But you can say that with all the providers being they carry pretty much the same stuff. TV I think was more entertaining when we had 6 channels.
Westerns Channel! While a lot of my viewing includes Hist., Disc., even Animal Planet, sometimes I would go ape without the Westerns Channel. I jumped with joy when they put on Cheyenne, and a great Randolph Scott marathon a couple of weeks ago, with some of his movies I had never seen before...
Before choosing DISH Network - read this:
http://www.komonews.com/about/36233819.html
Seattle’s KOMO no longer available to DISH Network Subscribers.
DISH Customers in the Seattle and Yakima, WA; Portland and Eugene, OR; Boise and Idaho Falls, ID; and Bakersfield, CA Markets Lose Ability to Receive Fisher’s Signal and Programming; Fisher Also Files Breach of Contract Lawsuit Against DISH in Federal Court
SEATTLE, WA, Dec 18, 2008 — DISH Network’s satellite carriage agreement with Fisher Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSCI) expired on December 17, 2008, immediately leaving DISH customers in 7 media markets without the ability to receive Fisher’s programming. Stations no longer available to DISH customers are: KOMO and KUNS in Seattle, KIMA and KUNW in Yakima, KATU in Portland, KVAL in Eugene, KBCI in Boise, KIDK in Idaho Falls, and KBAK and KBFX in Bakersfield.
“Despite Fisher’s good-faith efforts to negotiate a new agreement, we were unable to reach acceptable terms to ensure that DISH provides us fair compensation for the value they receive from broadcasting our stations, which have leading positions in their markets and consistently deliver highly viewed news and programming,” said Rob Dunlop, Fisher’s Senior Vice President of Operations. “Our signal remains available over the public airwaves and through other service providers such as cable or DIRECTV. We regret any inconvenience DISH Network viewers may experience as they look for other options in order to watch our stations.”
In light of the inclement weather impacting much of the Pacific Northwest and concerns about public safety, Fisher attempted to extend the expiration of the current agreement until Monday, December 22 to ensure that DISH customers in the region could continue to receive news and weather updates. However, DISH rejected the Company’s proposal.
Separately, Fisher announced that it has filed a $1 million breach of contract lawsuit over DISH’s failure to comply with the terms of the prior carriage agreement. The lawsuit was filed earlier today in federal district court in Oregon.
Fisher claims that DISH violated the terms of the carriage agreement when it failed to retransmit KUNP-TV’s signal from July 2006, when Fisher acquired the station, until April 30, 2008. In addition, DISH has not paid Fisher any carriage fees for KUNP, as specified in the prior agreement.
In its complaint, Fisher also said that DISH breached the prior carriage agreement when it failed to pay Fisher in full for broadcasting KBAK and KBFX on its system. On January 1, 2008, Fisher acquired the two stations from Westwind Communications. While DISH has acknowledged that it has underpaid Fisher during that time period, it has not submitted proper payments to the Company.
Love it and no problems whatsover.
We ditched our DirecTV a couple of months back. We were paying $60+ dollars for hundreds of channels of crap and propaganda. I miss my wife yelling at me to turn down the TV every time a commercial comes on that has higher loudness levels, but I’m adjusting. Seriously, though, just buy the movies/series you like at amazon or whatever, you’ll save a ton of money and get a lot more done. You can still watch your favorite programs on the internet during the weening period. We’ll never go back.
Dish Silver 200 plus The Outdoor ch. here runs just under $50/month, I think the extra recievers add $5 to it.
Call 1-800-directv. Free equipment - free installation. Great service - pick the programming package that has the Channels you want - you can always upgrade. HD costs an extra $10. per month per household. Mention my name and phone number and we each get $50. Richard Smith 865-546-9591.
Thanks, Richard Smith 10 year user of Directv
You had better wait before you look at Dish, I was just notified that Dish is going up next month. They didn’t say how much so I will just wait and see.
Points:
1. We were a customer of DirecTV for five years and always paid our bill.
2. We sold our Wisconsin home in November 2005 and moved to Las Vegas .
3. My wife called DirecTV and cancelled our service in Nov 2005. DirecTV’s rep kept pressuring her to “suspend” the service. She insisted that it be cancelled since we were moving into an apartment and would have cable.
4. All 3 DirecTV satellite receivers were placed in a box and put in storage when we moved.
5. DirecTV (Without our knowledge or permission) “turned on” our service for our Wisconsin home) in July 2006. Bills were sent to our former address in Wisconsin and were never received by us. A DirecTV representative told me in January 2007 that after not receiving a payment from us, DirecTV turned off our service for 1 month and then in a gesture of good faith turned it back on for several more months before finally turning it off for good in November 2006.
6. We became aware of this bill when we received a collections agency notification in January 2007.
7. DirecTV was contacted by me twice in January 2007. Letters were sent by certified mail to both the collections agency and DirecTV
8. In order for our older DirecTV satellite receivers to work, they must be hooked to a phone line. These receivers must phone in once per month in order to receive instructions on what channels we are allowed to receive and to get the code to decrypt the satellite signal. DirecTV could have easily verified with their computers that our receivers never called in and thus know that we never used their services.
It is now 2009 and we just hired a lawyer because we just got another collections agency notice.
Pretty cool way to make extra money. Turn on our service for a house we no longer own and we live 1,700 miles away. Even better after receiving no payment is to turn it back on and then try to charge us for even more months.
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